Abstract:
Approximately one in seven of the world’s population—over one billion people – are persons with disabilities (World Health Organisation and World Bank, 2011). Some estimates suggest that 80% of persons with disabilities live in developing countries (Braithwaite, J., and Mont, D. 2008). The 2011 World Report on Disability presents compelling evidence of the barriers that women, men, girls and boys with disabilities face, such as inaccessible infrastructure, negative and discriminatory attitudes and out-dated laws and policies which infringe on their individual rights. These barriers result in persons with disabilities having poorer health, fewer educational achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty and inequality than persons without disabilities (WHO and World Bank, 2011).
It is important to point out that progress has been made in recent years on advancing disability as an important theme on the development agenda, as well as recognition that the inclusion of persons with disabilities is crucial for effective development, particularly if development is about reaching the most marginalised populations. The advocacy of persons with disabilities and their increased organisation into groups and networks has been an important development for such progress.
In 2015 a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to be agreed by world leaders. Over the coming years as the new development framework begins to be implemented, CBM, together with its partners, will build on the significant advances in the inclusion of the rights of persons with disabilities in the international agenda. A new development framework will only be successful if it includes persons with disabilities as integral to global development, with the advancement of human rights as a key pillar.
